Trust, and how to keep it

Something I have learned from writing a public blog is that everyone has an opinion on how a public blog should be run. Everything from fun fluff to strong advice pieces gets its share of praise and criticism, and while all opinions are welcome very few of them hold any clout.

The reality of the situation is that I take responsibility for this thing, and because of that what ends up on it is up to me.

The same thing goes for anyone who owns or runs anything. The fun part of being in charge of something is that you get to decide how it’s run. The draw back is, the responsibility isn’t restricted to what goes right.

This blog carries a lot of information. The usefulness of the information is restricted to those shopping for alarms and security, largely because those things are what we are experts in. Like the majority of our clients, we know our business and are able to express that in ways many of our competitors cannot. Our position as security dealers puts us in touch with a large number of home and business maintenance services who also know their business.

It’s interesting to watch the variety of ways these businesses are managed and run. The common thread between all of them? Responsible ownership.

All of these people have the same concerns when it comes to their businesses. They want to trust their employees. They understand, however, that things happen and when they do they need to be sure they are covering themselves.

The first, and largest, issue business owners have is… theft. Even the companies that aren’t selling a tangible product have issues with inventory control. Call centers lose headsets, sales floors lose items, warehouses lose… everything. Some of the losses can be chalked up to regular business expenses. Not all of them are unavoidable, however.

Theft is a very real problem. Breach of trust is a very strong accusation to make. This is why camera systems are such a big deal.

99% of your employees would never steal from you. The 1% that will? They can ruin your trust in your entire staff.

The second biggest concern employers have? Hours worked.

This can also be classified under theft. Most times it’s simply people not tracking their hours properly, and it largely affects smaller businesses without sophisticated employee tracking. Or any tracking at all really.

To combat this issue we use access control with audit trailing. This allows you to see who comes in and out of each door with a reader on it and at what times the card is used. While we don’t suggest it to be your first solution for payroll, knowing when your employees are coming and going is essential to maintaining your trust in them.

These systems are intended to highlight issues you can then address, while also making sure only those with clearance are coming through those doors.

The last of the big three is… break ins.

Vandalism and theft is covered by cameras, theft and absenteeism is covered by cameras and access control. Those two together help you monitor your inner workings, open or closed.

Outside threats to the interior of a property are the lesser of the three simply because those who will actually get bold enough to break in and rob a property are much fewer and farther between than those who are simply struggling from a moment of weakness.

That said, break-ins can and do cause a great deal of concern for those who have them. You never know when or if someone will target you and because it’s unpredictable, it’s something you can’t afford not to have.

Alarm systems can bring any type of first responder if it’s set up properly, and many now have the ability to send messages to your smart phone. While you may not act on the message before we do, those messages can be essential to you figuring out what is going on and how to approach it.

We’d like to think that we can just run our businesses without fear of what is going on around us. We also all know that’s simply not true. It sucks, but we do need to take measures to protect ourselves and since we work hard enough to keep our businesses healthy, getting those areas we simply do not have the time or expertise to monitor ourselves covered is essential to our mental and financial well being.

Call us or use the contact form on this page. Let us know you concerns. Quotes are free, and advice is quick.